Republished March 08, 2018 - 3:24 PM
Original Publication Date March 08, 2018 - 2:01 PM
JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi man accused of killing eight people, including relatives, acquaintances and a deputy sheriff, was indicted Thursday.
Willie Cory Godbolt, 35, of Bogue Chitto, was indicted on four counts of capital murder, which could carry the death penalty; four counts of murder and one of attempted murder, each of which is punishable by up to life in prison; two counts of kidnapping; and one count of armed robbery.
Godbolt's defence attorney did not immediately return calls Thursday to The Associated Press. Godbolt is scheduled to appear in court Monday to answer the charges.
Godbolt has been jailed without bond since his arrest May 28, hours after the killings in and around the south Mississippi city of Brookhaven, about 70 miles (110 kilometres) south of Jackson.
Deputy William Durr responded to a disturbance call May 27 at the home of Godbolt's in-laws in the Brookhaven suburb of Bogue Chitto. Durr, who was 36, was killed there, along with Godbolt's mother-in-law Barbara Mitchell, 55; Mitchell's sister, Brenda May, 53; and May's daughter, Tocarra May, 35.
Two cousins — 11-year-old Austin Edwards and 18-year-old Jordan Blackwell — were killed at a second home. A husband and wife, Ferral Burage, 45, and Shelia Burage, 46, were killed at a third home.
Moments after he was arrested, a handcuffed Godbolt told a reporter from The Clarion-Ledger, on video, that someone in the first house called law enforcement while he was talking to his wife and in-laws about his wish to take his children home.
"My pain wasn't designed for him. He was just there," Godbolt said of the deputy.
Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony, such as burglary. People can also be charged with capital murder in the killing of a law enforcement officer. One of the capital murder charges against Godbolt was in the killing of Durr. Three were in killings committed at the same time as alleged burglaries of two of the homes.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018